Take the Lead Dance Studio

Serving DE, PA, MD and NJ

About this vendor

You only have one First Dance - Make it Magical!

Let our experienced Instructors help you create a magical moment on the dance floor that will last a lifetime. Whether you are looking to perform a choreographed routine to your special song or just look more comfortable in each other's arms, our wedding experts can make you calm and confident for your first dance as husband and wife.. While most couples prefer Private Lessons to prepare for their Wedding Day, we also offer some wonderful Group Classes. Depending on your goals and timeframe, we can suggest the best options. Don't forget about the rest of the family. Take The Lead can also prepare you for Father/Daughter, Mother/Son, Bridal Party, or any other special dances. As our gift to you, we offer all of our wedding couples a Free Private Introductory Lesson. This allows us to better understand your vision and make the best recommendations after working with you. Contact the Studio now to schedule your Free Private Introductory Lesson.

Details

Business Attributes

Woman-owned Business

Music Genres

Bluegrass
Caribbean
Classical
Country
Dance
Disco

Pricing

See all the vendor’s pricing and services in this helpful guide.

Take the Lead Dance Studio PDF

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5

out of 5.0

10 reviews

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9/27/2021 • Ann B

By far one of my favorite and most vivid memories of the wedding was dancing with my Husband for the first time! The band did a fantastic job and we felt so comfortable dancing, even with a crowd of 200. Thanks to Peter from Take the Lead, we received a ton of compliments on our dancing - that we were actually enjoying it (I was!!) and that it looked natural! We did one of the group "Intro to Social Dancing" classes a year and a half before the wedding, and then took a few private lessons over the two months leading up. Peter is incredibly supportive, fun, and encouraging! He knew when to crack a joke and when to get us to focus. We saw improvement with every lesson AND the lessons were fun! Thank you so much, Peter! We'll definitely be back for some social dancing drop-in's.

Response from the Vendor on 09/27/2021

Thank you so much Ann, for those kind words. Working with you both was so much fun. When couples do the Intro class first followed up with private lessons like you did, they have so much more confidence and really look natural on the dance flo...

or. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

6/17/2021 • Nancy C

We had a wonderful time taking private and group lessons with the owner, Peter. He was a lot of fun to work with, and did a great job helping us get ready for our First Dance. We plan on continuing lessons with his studio after the wedding.

9/29/2019 • Alexis A

Peter was an excellent dance instructor! Me and my husband went to private classes with him to be able to dance together at our wedding with out doing the normal swaying back and forth that so many people do. We wanted a more special moment together and to spice it up a bit! We have always loved traditional dances and wanted to give it a go. Our wedding gave us the push to do it. Peter was welcoming and helpful. We never felt embarrassed during our lessons and peter celebrated all of our mini learning successes along with us. He wanted the dance to be more about a moment between us as husband and wife and less about a performance. Peter gave us the skills to do a lovely dance together, fix any hiccups along the way with out meltdowns or us stopping during our first dance if we had any issues and gave us another way to connect as a couple. We dance together now in our home here and there and we love it.

Response from the Vendor on 10/02/2019

Thank you so much, Alexis. Working with you and John was an absolute pleasure. One of the best parts about working with wedding couples is seeing how they find another way to communicate with each other on a different level as well as work tog...

ether for a common purpose. These are all things that are needed in a long term marriage.

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10/23/2018 • Anne c

My husband and I were dreading our first dance in our wedding because we are both shy and never really danced before. We are so glad we decided to take two lessons with Peter a month prior to our wedding. He is such an excellent teacher, describing steps to us in very easy to digest language. He also shared with us a bit of what a first dance should mean for couples, giving us a new perspective on the process, and made the whole experience richer with meaning. His recommended dance moves touched one of my dancer friends to tears!

9/21/2018 • Michelle H

We took private lessons with the owner Peter to prepare for our first dance and it was 100% worth it! He's an amazing instructor and a fun person to be around. Definitely recommend!

Response from the Vendor on 09/21/2018

Thanks so much, Michelle for your kind words. It was so much fun working with you guys.

4/21/2018 • Kinsey M

My husband and I went to Take the Lead for introductory group dance lessons then had a private lesson with Peter to prepare for our first dance at our wedding. We really enjoyed learning from Peter and appreciated all of his help in getting us prepared for our first dance as husband and wife, which was one of our favorite moments on our wedding day. We highly recommend going to Take the Lead - it was fun and a great experience and helped us get comfortable with something we didn’t have any experience with prior to going!

6/26/2017 • Krista P

My husband and I knew we wanted to do dance lessons to help us feel comfortable during our first dance. Peter had us come in for a free consultation. Upon his recommendation, we took a six week intro to social dancing class. This class taught us the basics of a few dances and helped my husband become a better dance lead and me a better follower. It was also a fun indoor exercise during the winter months. After the class ended we took 3 private lessons with Peter and came up with some simple moves for our song. Although it's more of a time commitment, the social dance classes really prepared us for the private lessons because we weren't wasting precious time covering the basics. Peter is a great teacher and can really pinpoint the things each dance partner can improve to become a better dance partner. Also everyone at the studio, other students, dancers and teachers are very nice and welcoming. I would recommend classes and private lessons at Take the Lead!

6/04/2013 • Sarah Y

My husband is latino, and we met in South America. Both of us love salsa, but are not very good at it. We took the first three Beginner Salsa group dance lessons at Take the Lead with Joe, and we were a hit for our first dance at the wedding. At Take the Lead you learn all the basic steps, turns, and how to communicate with your partner. The people there are extremely nice and Joe makes you laugh at your two left feet. If we had had more time I would have liked to have private lessons to have a more coreographed dance for our first dance, but seeing as wedding planning is time consuming we decided to wing it and just do whatever dance moves we felt like doing. Apparently it worked out because everyone thought we had practiced and had the dance coreographed. I guess once you have the basics down and know what your partner is about to do you can pull it off!

6/26/2012 • Lisa R

We had a groupon from christmas for dance lessons so we used them for help on our wedding dance and it was a blast! The instructors were all great and the group dance setting was so much fun.

8/10/2010 • Meghan K

My husband and I took two private dance lessons at Take the Lead Dance Studio. The lessons were a bit short, only 45 minutes. However, we just wanted to get some basic steps so we looked sort of like we knew what we were doing for our first dance! We brought in our first dance song and the instructor showed us a basic waltz and a few turns that we could add into out dance. We were so happy with the instructor and how much we learned in two sessions!

Contact

320 Lantana Drive, Hockessin, DE | Serving DE, PA, MD and NJ

(302) 234-0909

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Meet the team

Luann D'Agostino Manley

Owner

Luann has been dancing since childhood with 15 years of classical ballet, tap, jazz and theater work. She started her Ballroom career in 1989 as a student, competitor, and then instructor with the Arthur Murray Studio in Wilmington. Leaving the AMS (then Candlelight Dance Studio) in 2006, she opened the original Take The Lead in Wilmington (Pike Creek) in 2006, moving the Studio to it's current location in 2009. She sold TTL in 2014 only to return as the owner in 2023. With 30 years of ballroom experience, Luann teaches primarily Social Ballroom and Latin dances.

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Luann D'Agostino Manley

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